Congregation Agudas Israel
July 28, 2012
Parshat Dvarim/Tisha B’av
Telling and retelling.
This week we begin the book of Devarim/Deuteronomy/Words. In many ways we hear the story of the Exodus and the journey to the cusp of the Promised Land. Yet in this telling, we hear the story from Moses’ perspective. We hear the struggles he had with the people Israel. We hear of rebellion and mitzvot.
Our Haftorah is from the book of Isaiah. We hear a vision of destruction and a vision of hope. We hear Gd angry, and we hear Gd compassionate.
In one of the unique twists of Jewish law, right now, at this moment, it is Tisha B’av, but its observance is moved until tonight. On that note, if you come to tonight, you can read the book of Lamentations and see some of the same people again! Tisha B’av is the saddest day on the classical Jewish calendar, remembering the destruction of both the 1st and 2nd Temples, the false report of the spies in the Bible, the crushing of the Bar Kochba revolt, and the destruction of the Temple site. Later on, we added the start of the First Crusade, the expulsion of Jews from England and Spain, the start of WWI and the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. Yet with all of that, we still do not fast on Shabbat. We move the entire commemoration to tonight, to the 10th of Av!
For many modern Jews though, Tisha B’Av is difficult. Some of you have walked the streets of Jerusalem. You have seen high rises and kosher restaurants. You have seen a Jewish government and a Jewish military. (For those that haven’t, it is not too late to register to join us in Israel next year.) So how do we mourn for the destruction of Jerusalem when it seems just fine? How do we cry when we can go to Burger Bar or even a Kosher McDonalds?
To me the answer is quite simple. We aren’t there yet. Tisha B’av is still relevant while there is hate in the world. Tisha B’av is still important when peace is not universal. Tisha B’av is still essential when Jews cannot speak respectfully to Jews, when not all serve their country or pay their taxes and when there is still no Temple.
Last night was the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. This year is 40 years since the tragedy of the Munich Olympics when Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israelis and a German policeman.
There has been a worldwide movement to have a moment of silence in their memory at the Opening Ceremonies. While I do not know what happened last night, as of yesterday afternoon, there was no indication that in the spectacle of the opening ceremonies that any tribute would be made. While hundreds of thousands of signatures were collected by the Rockland County JCC and Federation, calls were made by President Obama and Governor Romney, the Israeli government, the German government and numerous others, the IOC did not seem willing to bend. Outrageously, the chairman of the Palestinian Olympics Committee, Jibril Rajoub, sent a letter to the IOC saying that acknowledging the Israelis killed would be racist! He wrote, “Sports are a bridge for love, communication and the spreading of peace between nations and should not be used for divisiveness and the spread of racism.”
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/107570/palestinian-olympic-rep-sees-racism-in-munich-moment-of-silence
One success was that yesterday morning in London, in gatherings around the city in their memory, more than 20,000 Londoners held a moment of silence to remember the Munich:
More than 20,000 people in various venues in London attended the British Zionist Federation’s “Minute for Munich” program that was promoted via social media.
A short memorial service at the Israeli Embassy that was organized by the Zionist Federation was streamed live online Friday, according to the London Jewish Chronicle.
About 200 people marked the Minute for Munich in Trafalgar Square, reciting memorial prayers and lighting memorial candles. Afterwards, they waved British and Israeli flags in front of media covering the event
http://www.jewishjournal.com/world/article/more_than_20000_londoners_hold_munich_moment_of_silence_20120727/
See also:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/nation/article/jewish_summer_campers_terrorized_20120727/
Destruction of temple continues since people still don't acknowledge
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/the-jewish-thinker/the-munich-massacre-bulgaria-attack-and-tisha-b-av-1.453012
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/107240/no-open-zion-deborah-lipstadt-won%E2%80%99t-shut-up
Deborah Lipstadt, the esteemed professor at Emory, a teacher of Holocaust studies and anti-semitism wrote a powerful piece in Tablet Magazine online, entitled, Jewish Blood is Cheap,
In the years since, the families of the victims have repeatedly told the IOC that all they want is a chance to mark the murder of athletes who had traveled to the games to do precisely what athletes do: compete at their very best. These victims deserved to be remembered by the very organization that had brought them to Munich.
Why the IOC refusal? The Olympic Committee’s official explanation is that the games are apolitical. The families were repeatedly told by long-time IOC President Juan Samaranch that the Olympic movement avoided political issues. He seemed to have forgotten that at the 1996 opening ceremony he spoke about the Bosnian war. Politics were also present at the 2002 games, which opened with a minute of silence for the victims of 9/11.
The families have also been told that a commemoration of this sort was inappropriate at the opening of such a celebratory event. However, the IOC has memorialized other athletes who died “in the line of duty.” At the 2010 winter games, for example, there was a moment of silence to commemorate an athlete who died in a training accident.
The IOC’s explanation is nothing more than a pathetic excuse. The athletes who were murdered were from Israel and were Jews—that is why they aren’t being remembered. The only conclusion one can draw is that Jewish blood is cheap, too cheap to risk upsetting a bloc of Arab nations and other countries that oppose Israel and its policies.
I have long inveighed against the tendency of some Jews to see anti-Semitism behind every action that is critical of Israel or of Jews. In recent years some Jews have been inclined to hurl accusations of anti-Semitism even when they are entirely inappropriate. By repeatedly crying out, they risk making others stop listening—especially when the cry is true.
Here the charge is absolutely accurate. This was the greatest tragedy to ever occur during the Olympic Games. Yet the IOC has made it quite clear that these victims are not worth 60 seconds. Imagine for a moment that these athletes had been from the United States, Canada, Australia, or even Germany. No one would think twice about commemorating them. But these athletes came from a country and a people who somehow deserve to be victims. Their lost lives are apparently not worth a minute. http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/106409/jewish-blood-is-cheap
This week also included a disturbed young man massacring people in a movie theater. It included Israelis killed in Bulgaria, while on their way to a beach vacation. While the former has no anti-Semitic ties, the latter surely does. Regardless, of their connection to Judaism, there is far too much needless loss of life in this world.
We pray for the time when the Talmud says that our fast days will become feast days. In that time, we will live in peace. In that time, people will not be killed simply because they are Jewish or simply because they went to the wrong movie.
We live in an imperfect world. We pray that our actions make it better. We mourn on Tisha B'av for the Destruction, but we also pray for redemption, as we learn in a midrash: the Messiah will be born on Tisha B’av. May we see a day when war and bloodshed cease, when a great peace will embrace the whole world. That is what I will be thinking about as I fast tonight/tomorrow.
I now ask you to stand as we remember those lost in Munich.
From the Chief Rabbi of the UK, Lord Jonathan Sacks
http://www.chiefrabbi.org/2012/07/17/prayer-to-commemorate-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-massacre-at-the-1972-olympic-games-in-munich/#.UBLdtGGe6So
“The massacre of eleven Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich was a tragic event in the history of the Olympic Games. But for the Jewish people, Munich 1972 is more than history. It is an event forever etched into the hearts and minds of our collective Jewish memory. History is his story – an event that happened sometime else to someone else. Memory is my story – something that happened to me and is part of who I am. History is information. Memory, by contrast, is part of identity. The eleven Israeli athletes and coaches were targeted not just because of their nationality, but because they were Jews. The attack was carried out on a world stage because it had a global target: the Jewish people. We are a people whose faith is central to our identity. It is therefore not sufficient for the Munich 11 to be remembered simply in the secular setting. It requires an expression of religious remembrance as well. That is why I have composed a special prayer of remembrance to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the massacre and to ensure it has a place on the map of Jewish memory. Coming at a time in the Jewish calendar when we recall the many tragedies that have befallen our people throughout history, the fortieth anniversary of the Munich massacre is also a moment when we can recall how, despite the many attempts to destroy our people, our faith has remained intact and the Jewish people, together with the memory of those lost, lives on.”
Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks
The eleven Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich
The Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks has composed the following prayer in memory of the 40th anniversary of the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes who were participating in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Please click here to download a PDF copy of the prayer, together with Hebrew memorial prayer including the names of the eleven Israeli athletes.Almighty God:
We, the members of this holy congregation,
Together with members of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth,
Join our prayers to the prayers of others throughout the world,
In remembrance of the eleven Israeli athletes
Brutally murdered in an act of terrorism,
At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich,
Because they were Israelis,
Because they were Jews.
At this time in the Jewish year,
When we remember the destructions of our holy Temples,
And the many tragedies that have befallen our people throughout history,
We mourn their loss
And continue to protest against those who hate our people.
We pray to You, O God:
Comfort the families and friends of the Israeli athletes who continue to grieve
And grant eternal life to those so cruelly robbed of life on earth.
Just as we are united in grief,
Help us stay united in hope.
As we comfort one another under the shadow of death,
Help us strengthen one another in honouring life.
The Olympic message is one of peace, of harmony and of unity,
Teach us, Almighty God, to bring reconciliation and respect between faiths,
As we pray for the peace of Israel,
And for the peace of the world.
May this be Your will and let us say: Amen
אֲ דוֹן הָ עוֹלָמִ ים זְ כוֹר אֶ ת נִשְ מוֹת
(David Berger) דוד ברגר
(Yossef Gutfreund) יוסף גוטפרוינד
(Moshe Weinberg) משה ויינברג
(Eliezer Halfin) אליעזר חלפין
(Mark Slavin) מרק סלבין
(Yossef Romano) יוסף רומנו
(Kehat Shorr) קהת שור
(Andre Spitzer) אנדרי שפיצר
(Amitzur Shapira) עמיצור שפירא
(Yakov Springer) יעקב שּפרינגר
פרידמן זאב (Ze’ev Friedman)
No comments:
Post a Comment